Tree testing limitations

Just like any testing method, tree testing has its limitations, with the major one being the lack of contextual data. Since the study is often conducted remotely and unmoderated, you miss out on observing user behavior, hearing their comments, and asking personalized follow-up questions. This means you might not fully understand why users make certain choices or what specific issues they encounter.

Here’s how to overcome this:

• Start with a few moderated pilot sessions: These sessions help ensure that task wording is clear and allow you to observe nuances in user behavior that might be missed in an unmoderated setting.
• Include a short survey after the tree test: Instead of asking users to recall confusing labels from memory, provide a list of labels and ask them to check which ones were difficult to understand. Follow this with an open-ended question for additional comments and feedback, allowing users to share insights that might not be evident from the click data alone.